When some go through the start of the new school year in joy and joy, others experience this return to reality far from the beach, Spritz and sneakers in pain.
Morning lethargy, jaw-dropping yawns, feeling of jet-lag, uncontrollable nibbling, motivation at zero… How to explain such a state of fatigue when you have just returned from vacation, a privileged period for fanned toes?
Read alsoThe three types of rest that the body and the brain need
A disrupted schedule
You just have to do a mini-survey around you to realize that the phenomenon is more common than you think.
It is also completely normal, reassures chronobiologist Damien Davenne.
With the resumption of work, our body must readapt to a schedule very different from that of summer (hello, waking up at 6:30 a.m.).
“This change is disturbing because it induces a desynchronization of biological rhythms, explains the specialist.
We go from a fairly natural sleep/wake rhythm where we get up and go to bed according to our desire, to another constrained by specific schedules.
Behind the scenes, our organs will then have to redouble their efforts to adjust to this new tempo.
A very “energy-intensive” process, according to the chronobiologist, which can cause drowsiness, digestive disorders, lack of concentration, muscle fatigue…
Read alsoDizziness, sore throat, stomach pain... What your body wants to tell you
Added to this is a familiar little belly lump.
We go from a period of rest, calm, to another more dynamic, which generally generates stress.
And the way we manage it will accentuate or not our state of fatigue.
“During the start of the school year, we inevitably find ourselves faced with a more intense workload.
Wanting to process everything, emails and urgent files from the first day is a bad reflex”, underlines the psychiatrist Sylvie Royant-Parola, president of the Morpheus Network.
"This pressure can go so far as to give rise to insomnia and thus daytime sleepiness", warns Damien Davenne.
In video, five signs that show that you are in sleep debt
Night owls and travelers in the crosshairs
In practice, some people are more affected than others by this tidal wave.
“According to our chronotype, inscribed in our genes, we all have privileged sleep schedules.
Those who are used to going to bed very late, after 1 a.m., will be more likely to wake up at dawn,” notes psychiatrist Sylvie Royant-Parola.
Read alsoCan we become "in the morning"?
Summer visitors from abroad are also feeling the pinch.
"When you move from one time zone to another, you desynchronize your internal clock, one of the functions of which is to allow the body to alternate between periods of activity and rest, from sunrise to sunset. of the sun", says Dr Sylvie Royant-Parola.
And the longer the return trip, the longer the transition on arrival will take to cushion the effects of this jet lag.
This is especially true when traveling from an eastern time zone to a western time zone, says chronobiologist Damien Davenne, because it is easier to delay bedtime than to bring it forward.
good habits
Except in exceptional cases, post-return fatigue is temporary, reassure the specialists.
According to them, most of the time everything is back to normal after a fortnight.
On one condition: adopt good sleep hygiene (regular bedtimes and wake-up times, even on weekends), daily physical activity (ideally in the morning to benefit from the benefits of light), a balanced diet devoid of stimulants in the evening such as alcohol and coffee, and a ban on screens at least one hour before bedtime.
Anyway, it's time to say
arrivederci
at the Spritz.
On the other hand, if this exhaustion persists, it may be wise to discuss it with a health professional.
“Seasonal depressions are more and more frequent in the fall,” points out chronobiologist Damien Davenne.